Mumbai, May 1 (IANS): On the occasion of Maharashtra Day, Mumbaikars were treated to a successful trial run of the state's first Metro railway Wednesday.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan flagged off the three-km long trial run of the Mumbai Metro between Versova and Azad Nagar in north Mumbai's Andheri suburb.
The section is a part of the 11.40 km Versova-Ghatkopar corridor which will provide a vital east-west link and drastically reduce travel time from the existing 90 minutes to barely 20 minutes.
Chavan said that the Versova-Ghatkopar line will become operational by December.
He said the Metro would be extended to the adjacent Thane district and work on a separate monorail project expedited.
The Mumbai Metro's Versova-Ghatkopar first phase is being constructed at a cost of around Rs.2,356 crore by a Reliance Infrastructure-led consortium on behalf of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The Metro sector is an elevated corridor supported by columns at the road median and will enable connectivity of eastern-western suburbs to the Western Railway and Central Railway.
The MMRDA plans to provide an interchange facility within the two railway networks at Ghatkopar and Andheri.